3 October 2024, Vienna, Austria – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) participated in a panel discussion, entitled The UN Summit of the Future – Main Takeaways and Practical Aspects to Reinvigorate Multilateralism, organized by the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) and the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (oiip), at the UN Office, in Vienna.
Amb. Peter Schatzer, PAM Permanent Observer to the UN in Vienna, and Dr. Joerg Weber, Senior Advisor, represented the Assembly at the event.
The panel discussion gathered participants from different UN departments, the diplomatic community and youth organizations, to review and analyze the main takeaways of the Summit of the Future, and building upon the momentum generated by the Summit, to delve deeper into the practical aspects to enhance multilateral cooperation.
The conversation focused on how to implement the objectives in the Pact for the Future, with special reference to the Global Digital Compact, aimed at providing a comprehensive framework for governance of digital technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Speakers emphasized the need for greater international cooperation to address the challenges posed by rapid technological developments and ensure equitable access to new and emerging technologies, particularly when it comes to developing countries.
Concerning the Declaration on Future Generations, participants called on international leaders to consider the long-term impacts of their decisions, taking into account the effects on the generations to come, and the need to involve them in shaping future policies.
Discussions also covered the reform of the UN Security Council and the peaceful management of space resources.
On 21 September 2024, at the eve of the Summit of the Future, PAM, with the support of its Centre for Global Studies (CGS), had organized a High-level Side-Event, at the UNHQ in New York, entitled “Parliamentary Support in Re-Establishing Trust and Reputation in Multilateral Governance”.
The Side-Event, held in partnership with the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), the Permanent Missions of the Kingdom of Morocco and Italy to the UN in New York, and the IPU, resulted in the following concrete actions that PAM will undertake to promote the goals of the Summit of the Future:
Supporting the creation of a Permanent Parliamentary Observatory of the Global South for the Sustainable Development Goals, based and managed by Morocco.
Establishing a Global Permanent Parliamentary Observatory on the misuse of AI and Emerging Technologies, to be served by the PAM Center for Global Studies, in San Marino, for monitoring, analyzing and promoting effective legislation, principles and criteria, so that these tools are not used by terrorist and criminal groups for their own malicious purposes, but for the benefit of all humanity.
Holding, in close collaboration with the PAM-CGS, the “Trust Path & Reputation Summit”, tentatively in 2025, which represents a substantive contribution to monitor the implementation of the UN Pact for the Future and propose tailored courses of action.
Through these efforts, the Assembly reiterates its dedication to multilateralism, working closely with the UN and its international partners, in order to ensure the long-lasting stability and wellbeing of the populations in the Euro-Mediterranean and Gulf regions. //